U.S. Surrounds Iran with “Missile Defense”
Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically
today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to
protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.
The US is dispatching Patriot defensive missiles to four
countries – Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait – and keeping two
ships in the Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles. Washington is also
helping Saudi Arabia develop a force to protect its oil installations.
American officials said the move is aimed at deterring an
attack by Iran and reassuring Gulf states fearful that Tehran might react to
sanctions by striking at US allies in the region. Washington is also seeking to
discourage Israel from a strike against Iran by demonstrating that the US is
prepared to contain any threat.
The deployment comes after Obama’s attempts to emphasise
diplomacy over confrontation in dealing with Iran – a contrast to the Bush
administration’s approach – have failed to persuade Tehran to open its nuclear
installations to international controls. The White House is now trying to
engineer agreement for sanctions focused on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, believed
to be in charge of the atomic programme.
Washington has not formally announced the deployment of the
Patriots and other anti-missile systems, but by leaking it to American
newspapers the administration is evidently seeking to alert Tehran to a
hardening of its position.
The administration is deploying two Patriot batteries,
capable of shooting down incoming missiles, in each of the four Gulf countries.
Kuwait already has an older version of the missile, deployed after Iraq’s
invasion. Saudi Arabia has long had the missiles, as has Israel.
An unnamed senior administration official told the New York
Times: “Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the
Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is
certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”